Continuing Phase 3 of the SAC Agenda, “Exploring Alternatives,” the meeting of July 7th concentrated on presentations given by Committee Members. The following is a summary of the presentations and reflect the opinions of the presenters for informational purposes:
Norm Dickson, a previous RCSC Board president, began his presentation with a brief history of Sun City. One comment that he made, “The amenities were there before Del Webb sold any homes, and this philosophy was continued throughout the years.” He also mentioned that in the past, a balance existed between Members of the community and the Board of Directors.
He gave us four advantages that our community has, but all four come with a blessing and a curse: Low Annual Costs, Most Member Activities for our Size, Convenient Neighborhood Centers, and a sizeable Lake adjacent to a recreation center in the middle of the desert. He feels that in order to continue to attract new people and better serve our existing members, we should strengthen these four advantages, not weaken them. He also admitted that at one time he felt that outdoor sports would just remain “outdoors;” existing weather data proves that it is getting hotter here and perhaps outdoor sports should be moved indoors. Lakefront property is extremely valuable, but we have done a good job of hiding it. His opinion is “the solution that disrupts the other factors the least, that can be completed the quickest, that can keep our costs within reason and that can meet our needs is the one that the committee should recommend.” With that stated, he went on to say that first the committee needs to decide where the PAC should be and then determine the size. He votes for putting the PAC at Mountain View.
The next presenter, Paul Higgins, had a different thought. He would like to move the PAC out of Mountain View; however, his presentation did not offer a solution where to put it. He did like the idea of it being centrally located. He provided a slide showing what should stay at Mountain View and what should be added. Paul is an employee of RCSC who primarily works at Mountain View so he is very knowledgeable about it.
Rick Hanna, president of the Swim Club, concentrated his presentation on the health issues regarding the ideal temperatures of pool water when combining two different types of activities. The research that he provided was
The next Member to give a presentation was Dave Clawson. He, along with his alternate Jeanette Jones, represented the viewpoint of the tennis club. They heartily support the Pickleball Club but do not want to see their 2 tennis courts at Mountain View converted to Pickleball courts. They felt that there should be diversity at every center. They also went on a Scavenger Hunt looking for alternate locations for courts that included the idea of using church parking lots or purchasing exiting plots of land (vacant RV Sales lot on Grand/108th). They concluded that they were highly in favor of a climate controlled dual use building for use by all.
Bill Loslo, representing the Players Club, gave a presentation highlighting Mountain View as the center for the performing artists of the community. He mentioned that it is not just plays that the PAC will be constructed for. It is musical performances (SC Concert Band, SC Orchestra), dancing (social and performing), Music (Ukulele Club), Lectures (Life Long Learning), etc. When asked by a member of the committee where the Players want to be located, he answered, “We belong at Mountain View. We have been there for 60 years. Members associate us with Mountain View.” He further reminded the committee that building a PAC at Mountain View has been a promise that has been put on hold for years.
NOTE: Press releases regarding the work of the RCSC Board of Directors Strategic Alternatives Ad Hoc Committee (SAC) are authored by the ad hoc committee and distributed/posted by RCSC media staff.